Jonny Bairstow, the son of the former England wicketkeeper David Bairstow, is an ebullient wicketkeeper-batsman who remains in or around the fringes of the England side in all three formats.

He was a talented all-round sportsman at an early age, even having trials with Leeds United as a right back. But it was cricket which soon dominated. An early starter with Yorkshire's Under-15s, he was named Young Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year in 2007, having already played for Yorkshire's Second XI and their Academy side and represented England Under-17. In October 2008, he followed in his father's footsteps by signing a full-time contract with Yorkshire.

He made an impressive first-class debut against Somerset in June 2009, cracking 82 in his second innings and soon secured his place in the first XI and further honours followed when he was picked up by England's Performance Programme and included in the England Lions successful tour of the Caribbean in January 2011.

By now Yorkshire's first-choice keeper, he registered his maiden first-class hundred against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in May of that year. Having previously passed fifty 17 times in 34 first-class matches without reaching three figures, just to emphasise his breakthrough, he made it a double. During his brilliant attacking innings, he was joined by England's recently retired opening bowler Ryan Sidebottom, in a record ninth wicket partnership for Yorkshire against Nottinghamshire (which had stood since 1899) of 151. Bairstow and Sidebottom were sons of two of Yorkshire's best-loved former players, David Bairstow and Arnie Sidebottom. The passing of talent between the generations could not have been more satisfactorily captured.

Many suspected that, long term, Bairstow would become a specialist batsman and his debut innings in one-day internationals backed up that theory as he hit an unbeaten 41 off 21 balls against India at Cardiff before a tough tour of India showed the realities of international cricket. However, further development followed with a match-winning T20 innings against Pakistan in the UAE and after a strong start to the 2012 season he was handed a call-up to the Test squad to face West Indies.

It was not a happy series for Bairstow, whose problems against some hostile short bowling from Kemar Roach gained much media attention, and after a modest return of 38 runs at 12.66 he was left out of the opening Test of the South Africa series as England went with Ravi Bopara. Confirmation that he had slipped back in the selectors' thinking came when Bopara withdrew from the second Test for personal reasons and James Taylor was preferred.

But after Kevin Pietersen was dropped in extraordinary circumstances for the third Test at Lord's, another opportunity arose for Bairstow to which he responded magnificently. Confidence bolstered by a century for England Lions against Australia A, he led an England fightback from 54 for 4 in their first innings on day two with a brilliant 95, emerging from a peppering with short deliveries to play some fluent attacking shots in an innings former England captain Michael Vaughan said would have been the finest maiden Test century he had witnessed had his fellow Yorkshireman not been bowled by Morne Morkel.

His increasing international involvement restricted his appearances for Yorkshire, although he did find time to hit 182 - his second biggest first-class score - to set up a crushing win over Leicestershire at Scarborough in the Championship and a match-winning 68 not out against Sussex in the semi-finals of the FLt20.

Bairstow retained his place for England's winter schedule, beginning with the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. He was unable to make a significant contribution and his participation in the India Test series was also limited before he was granted leave to return home because of a family illness, missing the subsequent ODI series.

Thereafter his bit-part status congealed - he lost his spot in the T20 team following the New Zealand tour and, after returning to the Test team during the Ashes as England dropped Nick Compton and moved Joe Root up the order, he was abruptly left out at The Oval. He spent much of the summer running 12th man errands at a crucial stage in his development. A squad member for the return tour of Australia, he played in the last two Tests, replacing the out-of-form Matt Prior, but did not unearth the performances to promote his worth as Prior's long-term successor and had to buckle down to the county circuit the following summer.
ESPNcricinfo staff

Why was it that Australia put in such a hazy performance in a match that mattered so much? Of the two teams they are the more experienced, the more used to winning and entering this week the more confident

Australia's selectors and management have been accused of being too harsh on Brad Haddin but the team's horrible display at Edgbaston suggests that they may actually have been too lenient, and not just on him

Australia's selectors and management have been accused of being too harsh on Brad Haddin but the team's horrible display at Edgbaston suggests that they may actually have been too lenient, and not just on him

Why was it that Australia put in such a hazy performance in a match that mattered so much? Of the two teams they are the more experienced, the more used to winning and entering this week the more confident

Outdated Browser Detected:
Using current browser will prevent you from using all features on our website.We strongly recommend you to update your browser. Use the links below to upgrade your browser;